No More Surprises
by PumpkinDino
Summary: Waverly Earp finds herself unable to sleep, lost in thought. She wakes up Nicole to talk and they both discover they may have a connected past.


**No More Surprises**

 _By: Leesah / pumpkindino_

"Are you awake?" Waverly's whispered voice cut through the ambient cricket chirps seeping into the room from the surrounding woods. She lays on her side looking out the bedroom window. A hint of moonbeam ushers between moving clouds and fills the room with a soft light. She feels the arm wrapped around her waist tighten, pulling the dip of her lower back into Nicole's hips. The particularly warm summer night has both ladies resting above the covers if only to enable them to sleep closer together. The pair lay in matching pajama shorts decorated with cartoon sleeping cats and the phrase, "I Don't Do Mornings" printed on them; a couples gift from Wynonna last Christmas. The warm air has Waverly in only a laced bralette foregoing a shirt in exchange for Nicole's embrace. Meanwhile, Nicole settled for an old oversized plaid shirt for her sleeping attire.

"Um hmm…" Nicole begrudgingly answers with a moan as she buries her head into the crevice between Waverly's neck and shoulder. Her eyes still closed and her grip around Waverly's abdomen still tight, she gently kisses her skin before speaking again in a sleepy groan, "What's up baby?"

Waverly, resting her head on her own clasped hands, pulls one away and moves it down to meet Nicole's. Their fingers intertwine and Nicole uses her thumb to trace around Waverly's bellybutton. Waverly squirms and lets out a dry giggle. "You know I'm ticklish there!" Waverly huffs out between light laughs.

"Oh? I thought this is how I turned you on." Nicole teased with playfulness in her tone. She begins to unlock her fingers from Waverly's grasp and run them down her hips, tracing the outline of her pelvis. She reaches the waistband of Waverly's pajama shorts and slides her fingers just under the elastic and begins shifting them over to the knotted string keeping them on.

"Nicole I…" Waverly's light chuckles muted to a deep inhale before she reached over and stopped Nicole from moving further down. "I was hoping we could," she paused with a calming breath, "… talk for a bit."

"Oh!" Nicole sat up abruptly, quickly fussing in the darkness for signs of distress from Waverly. "Is everything ok Waves?" She spoke with worry in her voice.

Waverly sat up too and reached out for Nicole's hand while making a shushing noise.

"Shh shh, sweetie pie I'm okay!" She turned and fluffed her pillow upright and scooted it back so she could lean on the wall. "Just can't sleep is all."

"What's got my baby so restless?" Nicole questioned. Her inflection filled with sincerity as she turns to the night stand and clicks the table lamp on which softly illuminates the room. She also slides back to sit up with Waverly, who immediately lays her head on Nicole's shoulder.

"I'm just thinking…" Waverly trails off for a moment, searching for the right words, "With everything we've been through is there anything left to surprise us?"

"Surprise?" Nicole repeated, slightly confused.

"Yeah! Surprise. You know, like, this is becoming the new normal. I feel like Doc could walk in here and tell us his moustache came to life and it would seem like our average Tuesday." Waverly gruffed, "I just don't want to lose sight of why we do it, is all."

Nicole turned and kissed Waverly gently on the forehead. "You're amazing, you know that?" Her compliment was rebutted with a playful hush from Waverly who still seemed troubled. There was a moment of silence as Nicole composed her thoughts then she spoke, "Did I ever tell you why I decided to move to this little town to begin with?" She shifted, lifting Waverly's head from her shoulder and looking her in the eyes.

"Well I know about your folks and the academy and…" Waverly began before being interrupted by Nicole.

"I didn't think so." She said coyly. "I think it is time for a little story. A story about the first time I was in the field…"

Waverly flipped her full attention to Nicole. She took a moment to capture the details of the seemingly insignificant moment because to her, anything Nicole shared was something she wanted to always remember. The way the light made her ginger hair glow ever so slightly, the way her eyes met with hers so intensely, and most of all the way her lips pushed together causing the dimples in her cheeks to fold. She had her face memorized and still felt pained to look away from it. Before she could get too swept up in it all, Nicole began her tale.

"It was my first year at the Academy and like all of the new recruits I was determined to prove myself. One afternoon we overheard some upperclassmen talking about a weird sighting in a recent sheriff's report from the town just a few hours north of us. They talked about the vacant deputy position that remained a revolving door of eager hopefuls who would all too soon be chased off by the unusual events of the town. The most recent oddity had been a series of dog attacks but no actual sightings of a dog in any of the witness accounts of the occurrences. While the victims swore they were attacked, bystanders claimed they simply saw the person struggling with some sort of invisible force. Truly it seemed like the perfect case for us to sink our teeth in," Nicole flashed a cute smile, "pun intended."

"Yes, yes you're very cute. Now go on!" Waverly winkled her nose and gave a sweet smile while shaking Nicole's arm in playful frustration. The ladies exchanged warm glances and Nicole continued.

"So two other freshmen and myself decided it was time for a road trip. We took off that night and headed into that small town… this town."

"That's my baby, always headed towards the danger." Waverly leaned in for a kiss, momentarily distracted. Nicole begrudgingly dodged Waverly's advancements.

"Hey now! You wanted to talk remember?" She smirked. Waverly pouted her lips with reluctant defeat, "You being a badass always makes me swoon." She remarked. Nicole flashed her dimple filled grin and sped up her story.

"We were a bit rebellious in those days…" She paused, and added with a self-reassuring laugh, "I mean, I guess I still am, but I digress. I should have checked in with the sheriff but instead we just started doing our own sleuthing. Events of the day lead us to split up and I ended up outside the library. It was mostly dark with the exception of a light pouring out onto the pavement from the second floor. It was chilly outside and I found myself roaming around and complaining that I was on a pointless ghost hunt. I was in full regret over going on the trip. I was haphazardly looking for clues of a recent attack when I felt the presence of something. I spun around and yelled out but there was no reply. That's when I noticed a pair of glowing red eyes emerging from the surrounding trees. Suddenly I was hit with the pungent smell of wet dog. I could hear the heavy breathing of an animal as I reached for my flashlight. Just as I went to turn it on, whatever it was, disappeared. I allowed my body to relax and I mentally convinced myself I was getting too swept up in it all. That's when I heard the voice. A girl from the lit room of the library called out to me. Before I could realize she was yelling a warning to watch out, I felt the pressure of the mystery beast on top of me. Thinking quickly, I shoved my flashlight in its mouth to avoid being bitten. The struggle was only seconds but it felt never ending."

Nicole was gesturing while talking, distracting them both from the seemingly abrupt interruption caused by a jingle noise. Both girls let out a gasp before realizing it was just Nicole's cat. She wore a collar with a bell and she wanted to join the slumber party.

"Calamity Jane!" Nicole scolded, "You scared us you little brat." She reached over and stroked the cat's back as it made its way over to Waverly's lap and curled up, immediately purring. With great affection, Waverly scratched Calamity's ears.

"You know I'm a keeper," Waverly remarked, "I have the kitty seal of approval."

"Yes," Nicole smiled, "You are loved by all." She leaned down and gave Calamity Jane a kiss on the head. Waverly veered from petting the cat and instinctively began to stroke Nicole's hair. Nicole rolled briefly into Waverly's chest, exhaled a sigh of comfort, and sat back up.

"Where was I?" She paused, clearly distracted by the moment of affection between the trio.

"Oh yes. That's when the books started falling. First one, then half a dozen. The girl from the window was throwing them to frighten whatever that thing was and it worked. It ran off. Lying on the pavement I looked up to the silhouette leaning out the window. It sounds silly but I took note of that image. Her long hair flowed out in the cool air and the light behind her made her look like an angel. She called out if I was ok but I was too stunned to reply. I finally snapped out of it when I heard my peers calling out to me. They had seen me rolling around with my flashlight but saw nothing of my attacker. They helped me up and I glanced back to the window from above. They silhouette was gone. The heroine that saved me…" Nicole started to trail off, "I wondered if I had made her up too."

Nicole took a moment to collect her thoughts, "I remember that drive back. Everyone thought I made the whole thing up to mess with them. My classmates talked about how they wouldn't dream of living there. How boring it must be to chase around nothing all day. But I had different thoughts. I had been surprised that night and it wasn't by a big ghost dog. It was by the kindness of a stranger who, unlike my friends, saw my fight and believed me. I was inspired. The people of this town needed someone who believed in them too. And so after graduation I took that deputy position and I never looked back. The point being, life will always give you surprises Waves."

Nicole, winded by her story, finally looks to Waverly but she appears somewhat stunned. "Waves? What is it? Did I say something wrong?" Nicole asked sheepishly.

"I saw the dog." Waverly stammered out.

"What?" Nicole was taken aback.

"I saw the dog attacking you." Waverly said once more. "I'm the girl. In the library." Nicole jolted upright, frightening Calamity off the bed. Speechless she pointed to Waverly with a gasp.

"I spent a lot of late nights in the library back then. I remember hearing someone out the window that night and when I looked a dog the size of a bear was headed right for her. I did the first thing I could think of..." Waverly let out a soft chuckle, "I can't believe that was you." Waverly reached out for the still stunned Nicole, "What do you know, you're right, I still can be surprised!" She said with a warm smile.

Nicole looked into Waverly's soft eyes and felt immediately comforted. "My Hero." She commented with a slight swagger in her voice.

Waverly smiled and crawled up onto her hands and knees. She pressed her forehead to Nicole's, their noses slightly touching. She reached beyond Nicole's shoulder for the lamp on the night stand and clicked it off.

"Now where were we before?" Waverly said flirtatiously.

As the couple grew entangled in sheets neither took notice to the mysterious howl from the distant woods outside.

The End 


End file.
